Judge finds Whakaari Management Limited guilty over White Island volcano tragedy

A judge has delivered the verdict on whether a tour company is liable over the White Island volcano tragedy that killed 22 people, including 14 Australians.

A tour company has been found guilty of negligence in New Zealand’s White Island volcano tragedy that claimed 22 lives, including those of 14 Australians.

The Auckland District Court ruled Whakaari Management Limited failed to obtain “the necessary expert advice on risk” before taking nearly 50 Royal Carribean cruise ship passangers on a tour of the active volcano on December 9, 2019.

“Given that Whakaari had the duty it did, it was fundamental that it engaged the necessary expertise to assess risk arising from the conduct of commercial tours on its active volcano,” Judge Evangelos Thomas said, in handing down his findings.

“This was critical to ensuring tours could be conducted safely. While that was the expert evidence, it is also common sense.

“Had Whakaari complied with its duty and obtained the necessary expert advice on risk and health and safety, it would have fully understood the risk.”

A plume of ash rising into the air as the volcano on White Island erupts.

Twenty-two people were killed, either on the island or while receiving care for severe burns and volcanic ash inhalation. Dozens more were suffered horrific injures.

The island’s owners — brothers Andrew, James and Peter Buttle — had individual charges against them dismissed last month, but their company Whakaari Management Limited was on Tuesday found guilty of one charge of breaching workplace laws.

Judge Thomas dismissed a second charge against Whakaari Management Limited, which related to the safety of its own workers.

However, he acknowledged how many families continue to be affected by the tragedy, while praising the survivors who gave “confronting” evidence during the trial.

WorkSafe NZ brought the prosecution against 13 parties, three individuals and 10 entities, including tour ­operators ID Tours NZ and Tauranga Tourism Services.

Five pleaded guilty before trial, while six had charges dismissed.

Footage taken by a Brazilian tourist Alessandro Kauffmann minutes before the White Island volcano erupted.

The trial previously heard evidence from Australian survivors of the eruption who said they had been left with life-changing injuries and were never warned of any serious dangers before arriving on the island.

Jesse Langford, then 19, was touring the island with his parents Kristine, 45, and Anthony, 51, and sister Winona, 17, when the 2019 blast occurred.

His sister’s body was never found and is believed to have been swept out to sea after a massive storm hit the island after the eruption.

Anthony and Kristine Langford with children Winona and Jesse ahead of their ill fated trip to White Island, New Zealand.

Jesse Langford revisits the site of the tragedy where a plaque has been erected for his sister Winona whose body was never found.

“It took everyone off guard. The fact that everyone turned around and started taking photos, it wasn’t until as the explosions intensified and Hayden Marshall (a tour guide who later died) yelled to run and then everyone started screaming and running,” he said in an evidential interview.

“It still bothers me, making the decision to get up and walk away. It was a very difficult ­decision to make.

“I pretty much said my goodbyes as best as I could and got up and started walking.”

Annie Lu, of Sydney, and her mother, Alice Xioman Zhang, were enjoying a dream holiday on the Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas ship when they booked the excursion to the island.

Sydney woman Annie Lu before the White Island tragedy.

Ms Lu said she remembered her mother screaming before it went dark. “It’s like your skin is melting off you … it’s like 100 needles going into you. Think of a porcupine attacking you,” she told the court.

Whakaari Management Limited will be sentenced for failing to meet its obligations to visitors to the volcano in February.

The owners of the business cannot be jailed over the tragedy but the maximum penalty for this offence for an organisation is $NZ1.5 million ($A1.3 million) fine.



OUTCOMES FROM JUDGE-ALONE TRIAL

• Whakaari Management Ltd — the Buttles’ holding company which manages the island — found guilty on October 31, 2023
• Owners Andrew, James and Peter Buttle — charges dismissed in September, 2023
  
• Travel management company ID Tours New Zealand Ltd — charges dismissed September 2023
• Agent for White Island Tours Tauranga Tourism Services Ltd — charges dismissed September, 2023
• GNS Science (geoscience research institute) — pleaded guilty to reduced charge in May, 2023
• Tour company White Island Tours Ltd — pleaded guilty in June, 2023
• Tour company Volcanic Air Safaris Ltd — pleaded guilty in July, 2023
• Tour company Aerius Ltd — pleaded guilty in July 2023
• Tour company Kahu NZ Ltd — pleaded guilty in July 2023
• Tour company Inflite Charters Ltd — pleaded guilty in March, 2022 and found liable for $NZ267,500 ($A245,200) in fines and costs
• Government department National Emergency Management Agency — charges dismissed in May, 2022

Originally published as Judge finds Whakaari Management Limited guilty over White Island volcano tragedy